Kvitfjell, Norway – Ivica Kostelic of Croatia finshed 21st in Saturday’s downhill to mathematically clinch his first Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall title. With just five races remaining on the calendar, Kostelic holds an insurmountable 518 point lead. Austria’s Michael Walchhofer took the 14th downhill victory of his career to move into discipline lead by 14 points over Swiss Didier Cuche with only the World Cup Finals downhill remaining.nWalchhofer, who has won the World Cup downhill title in 2005, 2006 and 2009, will retire at the end of this season. Walchhofer’s Austrian teammate Klaus Kroell was second on Saturday with Friday’s downhill winner Beat Feuz of Switzerland in third.
Steven Nyman, of Heber, Utah, led the U.S. Ski Team for the second straight day with 20th with Erik Fisher, of Middleton, Idaho, finishing 25th.
“It was a really fair race with a beautiful blue sky day,” said U.S. Ski Team head men’s coach, Sasha Rearick. “The top guys came down to win and a few guys were able to punch in from the back. That shows that it was a fair race.
“Steven (Nyman) skied quite well on the top before getting pretty ragged in the middle and pulled it back together on the bottom,” Rearick added. “Unfortunately he does miss World Cup Finals, but he stays in the top 30. Fish (Erik Fisher) made another step forward and skied some sections quite well.”
Aspen, Colo.’s Wiley Maple crossed the finish line in 44th, followed closely by Ted Ligety, of Park City, Utah, in 46th. Tommy Ford, of Bend, Ore., finished 52nd.
“Wiley and Tommy Ford gained some more experience and Ted was only three seconds out,” Rearick explained.
Canada’s Jan Hudec fell short of qualifying for next week’s World Cup finals by the narrowest of margins – finishing tied for 15th in Saturday’s downhill and missing out by a single place, a solitary point and one hundredth of a second.
“I had a really good run; put a really good effort in,” said Hudec, of Calgary, Alberta. “It’s so close. A minor mistake can cost you so much. I wanted to have a chance to go to finals and I’ve got no regrets. But it’s tough, especially when you miss it by so little.”
Hudec’s misfortune came after Erik Guay, of Mont Tremblant, Quebec, finished 12th. Ben Thomsen, of Invermere, British Columbia, was 40th, followed by Dustin Cook of Lac Sainte Marie, Quebec in 47th and Bradford, Ontario skier Kelby Halbert was 50th.
“We’re disappointed, for sure. We had a lot riding on today as far as qualification for the World Cup finals goes,” said Paul Kristofic, head coach of Canada’s men’s team. “Jan’s result was pretty good. But he missed out by one place, by one point, by one hundredth.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
Audi FIS Alpine World Cup
Kvitfjell, Norway – March 12, 2011
Downhill
1. Michael Walchhofer, Austria, 1:45.92
2. Klaus Kroell, Austria, 1:46.05
3. Beat Feuz, Switzerland, 1:46.23